Cannes runs May 12–23 on Croisette

Cannes is about to start, and the real story is not just that the festival runs from May 12 to May 23. It’s what kind of Cannes this looks like. The 2026 edition is shaping up as a director-first, prestige-heavy lineup with less obvious studio muscle and more of the international auteur machinery that turns the Croisette into the year’s first serious awards sorting hat. The festival has now locked its selection, named its juries, and set the stage for 12 days of premieres that can change a movie’s entire trajectory. ### What’s actually happening this week? The 79th Cannes Film Festival opens Tuesday, May 12, on the French Riviera and runs through May 23. Pierre Salvadori’s “The Electric Kiss” is the opening film, playing out of competition, which is a classic Cannes move — start with a splashy gala title, then let the competition build its own momentum over the next 11 days. (festival-cannes.com) ### Who’s deciding the Palme d’Or? Park Chan-wook is presiding over the feature-film jury, which immediately gives this edition a strong cinephile signal. The rest of that jury is stacked in a very Cannes way — Demi Moore, Ruth Negga, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård, Laura Wandel, Diego Céspedes, Isaach de Bankolé, and Paul Laverty. That mix matters because Cannes juries do not just reward craft. They reward taste, mood, politics, and timing. (festival-cannes.com) ### What does the lineup look like? The competition slate is crowded with big-name directors rather than franchise bait. The official selection includes films from Asghar Farhadi, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Cristian Mungiu, Ira Sachs, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Arthur Harari, Pedro Almodóvar, Lynne Ramsay, Paweł Pawlikowski, and Na Hong-jin. Cannes also added James Gray’s “Paper Tiger” after the initial April 9 announcement, which gave the competition one more high-wattage American title. (festival-cannes.com) ### Why are people fixating on “Paper Tiger”? Because it was a late addition and because James Gray still carries a certain Cannes aura. A movie added after the first lineup reveal usually gets extra attention — partly because it feels like unfinished business, partly because people assume the festival really wanted it. This one also arrives with a cast that includes Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson, which makes it one of the easiest competition titles for non-festival audiences to clock right away. (festival-cannes.com) ### Which films could break out? Na Hong-jin’s “Hope” looks like one of the buzziest titles because it blends Korean and Hollywood star power — Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Taylor Russell. Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord” has prestige baked in. And Lynne Ramsay’s “Die, My Love” already has the kind of early attention that can turn a Cannes slot into a months-long campaign story. (festival-cannes.com) ### Is Hollywood sitting this one out? Not entirely, but mostly, yes. The early read from festival coverage is that major U.S. studios are less central this year, while international and indie-backed films dominate the conversation. That does not make Cannes smaller. If anything, it makes the festival more itself — less about selling a blockbuster on the red carpet, more about establishing which filmmakers and films will own the prestige lane through fall. (usnews.com) ### Why does Cannes still matter so much? Because Cannes is still one of the few places where a premiere can instantly reset the market value and awards odds of a film. Recent winners and standouts have gone on to become Oscar players, and everyone in distribution knows that a strong Cannes launch can create months of momentum. Basically, this is where the year’s movie hierarchy starts to harden. (usnews.com) ### So what’s the bottom line? This year’s Cannes looks less like a studio parade and more like a pure festival edition — filmmaker-driven, international, and heavy on serious competition titles. If you want to know which movies will dominate prestige-film conversation for the rest of 2026, the answer probably starts on the Croisette this week. (festival-cannes.com) (usnews.com)